Generally described, computing devices and communication networks facilitate the collection and exchange of information. In a common application, computing devices, such as personal computing devices, can utilize a wide area communication network, generally referred to as the Internet, to access content or other data from other computing devices associated with content providing entities. The type of content exchanged between the computing devices can vary according to the specific design/function of the computing device and the type of content provided by the content providing entity.
Users can request data from a content providing entity that is delivered to one or more computing devices in a relatively “real time” basis. For example, users can request content from a network resource (e.g., a Web site) for immediate rendering on a computing device display screen or they can request the immediate transfer of content, such as a document or data file, from a network resource or Web service for storage on the computing device. In another example, users can transmit a request, or initiate a transaction, that results in the downloading or streaming of content to a computing device. Typically, the content providing entity would initiate such a transfer upon receipt of the request from the computing device.
Individual users can identify appropriate content providing entities in a number of ways. In one aspect, users can conduct searches via the communication network or other resources to identify appropriate content providing entities and initiate content requests. Depending on the type of content providing entity involved, the results of such user initiated searches can vary. For example, a user may have difficulty identifying content providers that can provide specific content or to select from a group of content providers that are known to provide specified content. Similarly, content providers/content publishers may have difficulty identifying users interested in consuming content or otherwise making the content known to potential consumers.
Even if content providing entities and content consumers are known to one another, individual users, and content providing entities may be required to establish some form of relationship in order to exchange information. With regard to information exchanged between two individuals, the individuals may be establish an “online” relationship or confirm a relationship prior to exchanging information. An example of such embodiment corresponds to social network Web sites, in which individual users are often required to establish or confirm a relationship in order to access information. With regard to information exchanged between organizations, each organization may wish to exchange different levels of information according to organizational affiliations or according to hierarchies/status within an identified organization. Accordingly, such approaches can become inefficient for facilitating the exchange of information between a user and a content providing entity based on the user's affiliation with an organization, such as a corporation.